How Citizen Scientists Can Fill in Information Gaps About Fukushima

An Internet search turns up an astounding number of pages about radiation from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown that followed an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But it's difficult to find credible information.

One reason is that government monitoring of radiation and its effects on fish stocks appears to be limited. According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, "No U.S. government or international agency is monitoring the spread of low levels of radiation from Fukushima along the West Coast of North America and around the Hawaiian Islands."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's most recent food testing, which includes seafood, appears to be from June 2012. Its website states, "FDA has no evidence that radionuclides from the Fukushima incident are present in the U.S. food supply at levels that would pose a public health concern. This is true for both FDA-regulated food products imported from Japan and U.S. domestic food products, including seafood caught off the coast of the United States."

But the disaster isn't over. Despite the Japanese government's claim that everything is under control, concerns have been raised about the delicate process of removing more than 1,500 nuclear fuel rod sets, each containing 60 to 80 fuel rods with a total of about 400 tonnes of uranium, from Reactor 4 to a safer location, which is expected to take a year. Some, including me, have speculated another major earthquake could spark a new disaster. And Reactors 1, 2 and 3 still have tonnes of molten radioactive fuel that must be cooled with a constant flow of water.

A radioactive plume is expected to reach the West Coast sometime this year, but experts say it will be diluted by currents off Japan's east coast and, according to the Live Science website, "the majority of the cesium-137 will remain in the North Pacific gyre -- a region of ocean that circulates slowly clockwise and has trapped debris in its center to form the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' -- and continue to be diluted for approximately a decade following the initial Fukushima release in 2011."

With the lack of data from government, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is asking the public for help. In January, Ken Buesseler, senior scientist and director of the Center for Marine and Environmental Radioactivity at the U.S.-based non-profit, launched a fundraising campaign and citizen science website to collect and analyze seawater along North America's West Coast.

"Whether you agree with predictions that levels of radiation along the Pacific Coast of North America will be too low to be of human health concern or to impact fisheries and marine life, we can all agree that radiation should be monitored, and we are asking for your help to make that happen," Buesseler said in a news release.

Participants can help fund and propose new sites for seawater sampling, and collect seawater to ship to the lab for analysis. The David Suzuki Foundation is the point group for two sampling sites, on Haida Gwaii and at Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Data will be published at How Radioactive Is Our Ocean? (ourradioactiveocean.org/), and will include an evolving map showing cesium concentrations with links to information about radioactivity in the ocean and what the levels mean.

The oceans contain naturally occurring radioactive isotopes and radiation from 1960s nuclear testing. Buesseler doesn't think levels in the ocean or seafood will become dangerously high because of the Fukushima disaster, but he stresses the importance of monitoring.

The Fukushima disaster was a wake-up call for the potential dangers of nuclear power plants, especially in unstable areas. North Americans may have little cause for concern for now, but without good scientific information to determine whether or not it is affecting our food and environment we can't know for sure. The Woods Hole initiative is a good start.

With contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Editor Ian Hanington. Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

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This Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo shows the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. The Japanese nuclear watchdog proposed Wednesday to define a fresh leakage of highly radioactive leak from one of the hundreds of storage tanks at Japans crippled atomic power plant this week, its worst leak yet from such a vessel. The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said Tuesday said about 300 tons (300,000 liters, 80,000 gallons) of contaminated water have leaked from a steel storage tank at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. TEPCO hasnt figured out how or where the water leaked, but suspects it did so through a seam on the tank or a valve connected to a gutter around the tank. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

In this Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo, workers stand on storage tanks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. Deep beneath Fukushimas crippled nuclear power station a vast underground reservoir of highly contaminated water that began spilling from the plants reactors during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been creeping slowly toward the sea. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

In this Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo, workers stand on storage tanks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. The Japanese nuclear watchdog proposed Wednesday to define a fresh leakage of highly radioactive leak from one of the hundreds of storage tanks at Japans crippled atomic power plant this week, its worst leak yet from such a vessel. The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said Tuesday said about 300 tons (300,000 liters, 80,000 gallons) of contaminated water have leaked from a steel storage tank at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. TEPCO hasnt figured out how or where the water leaked, but suspects it did so through a seam on the tank or a valve connected to a gutter around the tank. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

This Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo shows the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. The Japanese nuclear watchdog proposed Wednesday to define a fresh leakage of highly radioactive leak from one of the hundreds of storage tanks at Japans crippled atomic power plant this week, its worst leak yet from such a vessel. The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said Tuesday said about 300 tons (300,000 liters, 80,000 gallons) of contaminated water have leaked from a steel storage tank at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. TEPCO hasnt figured out how or where the water leaked, but suspects it did so through a seam on the tank or a valve connected to a gutter around the tank. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

This Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo shows the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. Deep beneath Fukushimas crippled nuclear power station a vast underground reservoir of highly contaminated water that began spilling from the plants reactors during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been creeping slowly toward the sea. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

OKUMA, JAPAN - AUGUST 19: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) In this handout image provided by Tokyo Electric Power Co, leaked radioactive water remains near the tank at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on August 19, 2013 in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan. An estimated 300 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from a tank at the Fukushima nuclear plant, with much of the polluted water apparently seeping into the ground. (Photo by Tokyo Electric Power Co via Getty Images)

In this Wednesday, June 12, 2013 file photo, a construction worker walks beside the underground water tanks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. The operator of Japan's tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant said Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, that about 300 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from one of the hundreds of storage tanks there - its worst leak yet from one of the vessels. (AP Photo/Toshifumi Kitamura, Pool)

OKUMA, JAPAN - AUGUST 19: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) In this handout image provided by Tokyo Electric Power Co, leaked radioactive water remains near the tank at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on August 19, 2013 in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan. An estimated 300 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from a tank at the Fukushima nuclear plant, with much of the polluted water apparently seeping into the ground. (Photo by Tokyo Electric Power Co via Getty Images)

FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2013 file photo, tens of cylindrical tanks built for storage of polluted water are seen near the four reactor buildings, background, at the tsunami-devastated Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in Okuma, northern Japan, where preparations for dismantlement of the facilities are underway. Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said Wednesday, April 10, 2013 that leaks of radioactive water from underground tanks are undermining efforts to decommission the plant. The plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said three of the seven underground tanks are leaking, but that the contaminated water is not believed to have reached the ocean. However, experts suspect that water has leaked steadily into the sea since early in the crisis, citing high radiation levels in fish in waters off the plant. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

FILE - This March 11, 2012 file photo shows storage tanks for radiation-contaminated water in the compound of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Tokyo Electric power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the plant said Saturday, April 6, 2013 that it was moving tons of highly radioactive water from a temporary storage tank to another after detecting signs of leakage, in a blow to the plant's struggles with tight storage space. TEPCO said about 120 tons of the water are believed to have breached the tank's inner linings, some of it possibly leaking into the soil. TEPCO is moving the water to a nearby tank at the plant - a process that could take several days. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 6, 2013 file photo, workers wearing protective gears take a survey near tanks of radiation contaminated water at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant says it is struggling with its latest efforts to stop contaminated underground water leaks from running into the sea. TEPCO said Tuesday, Aug. 6 that some of the water was seeping over or around "chemical walls" it had created by injecting chemicals into the soil that solidify into a wall. (AP Photo/Issei Kato, Pool, File)

This photo taken on August 6, 2013 shows local government officials and nuclear experts inspecting a construction site to prevent the seepage of contamination water into the sea, at Tokyo Electric Power's (TEPCO) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture. Japan will accelerate efforts to prevent more radioactive groundwater from seeping into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, government officials said on August 7, as critics slam its operator's handling of the issue. JAPAN OUT AFP PHOTO / JAPAN POOL via JIJI PRESS (Photo credit should read JAPAN POOL/AFP/Getty Images)

This aerial photo taken on July 9, 2013 shows reactor buildings Unit 2, left, and Unit 1 at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuama, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan. Japan's nuclear regulator says radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima power plant is probably leaking into the Pacific Ocean, a problem long suspected by experts but denied by the plant's operator. Officials from the Nuclear Regulation Authority said a leak is "strongly suspected" and urged plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to determine where the water may be leaking from and assess the environmental and other risks, including the impact on the food chain. The watchdog said Wednesday, July 10, 2013 it would form a panel of experts to look into ways to contain the problem. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 12, 2013 file photo, the steel structure for the use of the spent fuel removal from the cooling pool is seen at the Unit 4 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of Japans crippled nuclear power plant, showed journalists the massive steel structure built next to one of the damaged reactor buildings to help extract more than 1,500 fuel rods from a cooling pool on top of it. Japan's nuclear watchdog has formally approved new safety requirements for atomic plants, paving the way for the reopening of facilities shut down since the Fukushima disaster. The new requirements approved Wednesday, June 19, by the Nuclear Regulation Authority will take effect on July 8, when operators will be able to apply for inspections. If plants pass inspection, they can reopen. (AP Photo/Noboru Hashimto, Pool, File)

In this Wednesday, June 12, 2013 photo, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is seen through a bus window in Okuma, in Fukushima prefecture. More than two years after Japans nuclear disaster, damaged vehicles, twisted metal and other debris remain strewn about the Fukushima plant. Japan's nuclear watchdog has formally approved new safety requirements for atomic plants, paving the way for the reopening of facilities shut down since the Fukushima disaster. The new requirements approved Wednesday, June 19, by the Nuclear Regulation Authority will take effect on July 8, when operators will be able to apply for inspections. If plants pass inspection, they can reopen. (AP Photo/Noboru Hashimoto, Pool)